An interesting sound

[Mark Hammer]

Went to see The Aristocrats last night.  Quite the band.  I thought I would put together a pedal that Guthrie Govan would like and give it to him.  Didn't get to meet Govan  (he is apparently quite shy), but bassist Brian Beller said he would pass it on.

The pedal is essentially a clone of the Systech Harmonic Energizer.  The "special tweak" was that I included an LFO that would move the resonant frequency around.  I took the LFO section of the EA Tremolo, and used the LED to change the resistance of an LDR placed in series with the 50k resonant frequency pot.  Initially I went with parallel, but the LDR had too low a value, so I put it in series. The modulation is moderate, and is also less evident when the Frequency control is set high (greatest resistance), but it provides a pleasing modulation.  Not like an autowah, not like a phaser.  Worth trying out on yours.  Unfortunately, no sound clip forthcoming.

[digi2t]

Phew!

For a second there I thought you were going to say "So I decided to give him Dino's Synthi Hi Fli clone".

Unfortunately, no sound clip forthcoming.

Well, don't despair. Maybe Govan will be nice enough to care of that for you.

[Mark Hammer]

Phew!

For a second there I thought you were going to say "So I decided to give him Dino's Synthi Hi Fli clone".

Nah. Not enough time.  But I did get you $50 for it at Cash Converters.  I'll split it with you.

[digi2t]

Purfecto!! Just enough for a double vodka martini, and a cheeseburger. How thoughtful!

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Purfecto!! Just enough for a double vodka martini, and a cheeseburger. How thoughtful!

Go bottom shelf and have some left over for dessert 

[Fancy Lime]

Thanks for pointing out The Aristocrats, Mark! I did not know them but, wow, that's great! I need to buy me some albums of theirs. I saw Marco Minnemann, the drummer, with his band at the time (don't remember the name, I think it was more of a "Marco Minnemann and Friends" kind of deal) many years ago, which was also quite fantastic. Must have been in the early 2000's. I went with the drummer of my band at the time, so we thought it would be appropriate to applaud in 7/8 rythm, to the effect that large parts of the audience picked it up and the band jammed to that for a bit between songs. Fun!

Andy

[digi2t]

Purfecto!! Just enough for a double vodka martini, and a cheeseburger. How thoughtful!

Go bottom shelf and have some left over for dessert 

I'm a Grey Goose fan, so I'll gladly sacrifice the dessert. 

(And they better be stuffed manzanillas too. None of this spitting pits shit. I simply won't stand for it. )

[strungout]

That's really cool Mark! I have the self-titled album of theirs. Good stuff.

I had to go and find a demo for the pedal. Found one for the Triskelion clone of it. The guy was playing Electric Funeral by Sabbath. Sounds really good!

I'm definitely building one and trying that LFO mod. The circuit is simple enough, room for modding and I dig envelope filters a lot! Seriously, when I play with one, I have a hard time not mimicking along with the filter sweep with my mouth... #thestruggleisreal

EDIT: ok so my bad, the original in NOT an envelope filter. But I'll make it one like the triskelion

[Mark Hammer]

Thanks for pointing out The Aristocrats, Mark! I did not know them but, wow, that's great! I need to buy me some albums of theirs. I saw Marco Minnemann, the drummer, with his band at the time (don't remember the name, I think it was more of a "Marco Minnemann and Friends" kind of deal) many years ago, which was also quite fantastic. Must have been in the early 2000's. I went with the drummer of my band at the time, so we thought it would be appropriate to applaud in 7/8 rythm, to the effect that large parts of the audience picked it up and the band jammed to that for a bit between songs. Fun!

Andy

Minneman is every bit as inventive a drummer as Govan is a guitarist.  I don't know that I was entirely up for a 12-minute drum solo in a small overheated club, but what I did pay attention to was impressive.  I think equally impressive is these guys' ability to remember such complex charts.  Some of it makes committing the arrangements of a whole side of a Yes album to memory seem like mere jamming to a 5/8 shuffle.

Strungout, yeah the Triskelion and Fredric Effects clones include expression pedal input to move the resonant frequency around.  Those are quite handy.  I just went for something you didn't have to think about much, so you could concentrate on your playing.  The modulation adds a nice gurgle.  I think fastest LFO rate on this one was around 1.2hz or so, not particularly fast.